Harry Dunn's killer Anne Sacoolas says she 'thinks about him every day' as she avoids jail

Anne Sacoolas appeared via video link for her sentencing at the Old Bailey. Picture shows her previous appearance via video link. Credit: PA Images

A US citizen who killed a teenage motorcyclist while driving on the wrong side of the road said she "thinks about him every day".

Anne Sacoolas, 45, was given an eight-month suspended sentence at the Old Bailey on Thursday afternoon for causing Harry Dunn's death by careless driving, after pleading guilty to the offence in October.

The 19-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene on 27 August 2019 following the head-on crash outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.

Sacoolas fled the UK 19 days after the crash, sparking a major transatlantic diplomatic row.

After negotiations with the Crown Prosecution Service, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

Sacoolas - who had been advised by the US government not to attend her sentencing in person - wiped her eyes as she watched via video-link while Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, read out her family impact statement.

Ms Charles said her son's death "haunts me every minute of every day", adding: "I’m not sure how I’m ever going to get over it."

In a statement read by her lawyer Ben Cooper KC, Sacoolas said she was "deeply sorry for the pain I have caused".

Mr Cooper said her actions caused her "regret every single day", adding: "There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about Harry."

He said Sacoolas "did not ask" for the diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government, nor did she have an opportunity to have a say in the refusal of an extradition request submitted by the Home Office.

  • Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb sentencing Anne Sacoolas

During the court hearing in October, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said although she could not compel Sacoolas to face justice in person, it would provide "weighty evidence" of "genuine remorse".

But on Tuesday, a court official said that Sacoolas’ government employer had advised her not to attend the hearing, and that a renewed application for proceedings to be conducted over video-link had been granted by the judge.

Sacoolas was sentenced on Thursday to eight months in prison, suspended for a year. She was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

In her sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Sacoolas: "There is no doubt that the calm and dignified persistence of these parents and family of that young man has led through three years of heartbreak and effort to your appearance before this court and acknowledge your guilt."

The judge said Mr Dunn’s death was the "highest degree of harm," but added: "I bear in mind this was a short period of driving and you were not familiar with English roads.

"I accept you feel genuine remorse."

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